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Date:         Mon, 26 Oct 1998 18:45:04 -0700
Reply-To:     Jon B <jbaker@APBOARD.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Jon B <jbaker@APBOARD.COM>
Subject:      Locations and Little Off List Response
Comments: To: "Vanagon@Vanagon.com" <Vanagon@Vanagon.com>
Content-Type: text/plain

I am trying to think of how the Off List thread relates to my real world?

The Off List thread is bitter/sweet ordeal for me. Bitter because I usually read my Email at work and sweet because reading all the postings is like driving down the highway and waving to another vanagon owner. It is a brief encounter but something intangible and lasting is shared between two strangers. And with every such encounter my thoughts have been entertained by wondering who that was and where they were going and why they were going there. I feel that people who do not wave back own vanagons for the wrong reasons. Perhaps the list is the highway and each posting is a wave. Sometimes you choose to wave back sometimes you don't. But there is always the wonder.

As for myself, I introduced myself a few weeks back. Maybe a little more would be in order. I bought my first vanagon while attending Brigham Young University in 1991. Yep, I am a Mormon and I owned a Westy for most of my career at BYU, a certain contradiction in terms. While at BYU I built and operated a full service indoor climbing gym called The Rock Garden. My climbing interest introduced me to the wonderful world of Westys. I had wanted a Westy for ever but could not afford to buy one until I saw an add in the Salt Lake paper for an 84' that had been hit by a deer. I bought it for $1800 without driving it(missing radiator). With no real prior mechanical experience I pulled out the front enough to replace the radiator, installed a used one from a local yard and drove it home.

The next few years were amazing. To me it was the most valuable education. What I learned by far outweighed the degree in Planning and Resource Management I finished at BYU. Through the medium of the Westy I was able to meet the most incredible people who lived the most incredible experiences. People who were so alive. This was what owning a Westy/vanagon was all about.

Currently, I live in Scottsdale Arizona, with my beautiful wife Allison and our link to the Heavens our 10 month old daughter Gretchen. I have since traded my ;'84 Westy, for a '72 Westy and most recently a '90GL; my climbing shoes for a '94 Mountain Cycles San Andreas 8.0 mountain bike and various kayaks; and my degree in Planning and Resource Management for a career in software development.

I work for a small brokerage firm in Scottsdale, for which I have designed and programmed a custom trading and clearing system. I recently sold two of my three kayaks for lack of water but ultimately I am happy here. My life is facing changing priorities as time spent with my family is quickly replacing the satisfaction I once received from climbing, biking and kayaking. I have introduced my wife to the life of a vanagon owner and she loves the carefree feeling of spontaneous trips, a major departure from her upbringing. As for Gretchen, she is a great traveler. With this however the mantra changes and preventative maintenance becomes more important a concept I hate but accept.

To me it is a symbol of freedom.

Jon L. Baker


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